Life Raft
by LoveIsAlwaysLouder
Summary: Caroline Forbes is one of the 705 people who survived the sinking of the Titanic on April 14th 1912, and one of only 6 pulled from the water. Only moments from death she somehow finds herself shivering in a life boat, wrapped in the arms of a sopping wet and hauntingly familiar man. klaroline
1. Chapter 1

**I was cruising Netflix the other day and somehow ended up watching an Imax movie about diving to the wreckage of the Titanic… so then I watched Titanic. Which somehow lead to me writing a **klaroline fic. I haven't written anything or updated any of my stories in a really long time…. So this may be complete shit. Don't say I didn't warn you. Cause I did. Like just now. Yeah. To be honest I doubt any of you have even been reading this little blurb and have already just skipped ahead to what little text I've actually written below… okay ill stop now. Why do I feel like this is going to suck?

Disclaimer: All rights go to the rightful people and all that fun shit

Description: Caroline Forbes is one of the 705 people who survived the sinking of the Titanic on April 14th 1912, and one of only 6 pulled from the water. Only moments from death she somehow finds herself shivering in a life boat, wrapped in the arms of a sopping wet and hauntingly familiar man.

Attention: This chapter is probably going to be short. Really shot.

Chapter one: Life raft

The cries and pleas for help around her began to fade and weaken into helpless moans and eventual silence. Each breath was a struggle, the water pressed against her skin, clinging to it determined to drain whatever morsel of heat she had managed to cling too. She knew it was almost over. She had listened to those floating around her let out their final breathes, and let the darkness over take them. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad. What could be worse than this? It was as if she could feel the blood in her veins turn solid. It was time.

She jolted to life. The bitterly cold air stung her lungs with every ounce of oxygen that came in contact with them. Her body quaked uncontrollably, every inch of her shaking against her will. It was then, as her limbs flailed that she realized that someone was holding her. The arms tightened around her form, as she continued to jolt about, her actions shaking the small vessel as it waded through the waters around them.

She pressed herself against the body of the one who was holding her, scrambling to absorb what little heat it had to offer. Yet the arms wrapped around her were soaked through as well. Water dripped against her forehead.

Any other thoughts were erased from her head as something was brought to her lips, and a warm liquid began to fill her mouth. The taste was all but lost. All that she could think about was the heat flowing from her mouth and through the rest of her body. She somehow found herself not shaking. Her lungs no longer burned as she took in air.

She broke away from whatever had been pressed against her lips, and glanced up into the face of the person who was holding onto her so fiercely.

She recognized him in an instant. She had spent countless nights sitting at a large table all alone watching as his curly hair flopped in his eyes as he twirled a beautiful blonde girl playfully across the dance floor, or laughed alongside the men who accompanied him. How many times had she wished to be part of that group? To feel like a guest on the so called ship of dreams rather than a prisoner being transported to her fate. Yes, she had watched him. Wishing to take the place of the girl on his arm, or even replace of the men who sat at his table.

Yet this is how they met. She had said to herself that she wanted nothing more than to know what it felt like to be in his arm. Now, when she had come so close to death. She felt herself slip backwards, once again, and into nothingness. Hoping that when she woke she would still possess the emotion that now ran through her.

Wholeness.

I told you it would be short. I'm sorry.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Despite protests Klaus somehow found himself ushered onto the final life boat alongside a rather bored looking sister. Rebekah was completely un interested in the commotion going on around her, and would have been more than happy to have jumped overboard than stay confined to the small vessel.

"This isn't right Nik!" She hissed in her brother's ear.

"Must we discuss this now?" Klaus spat back , focusing his attention on the long ropes that were slowly lowering them towards the sea.

"Its just, all the peop- "she stopped abruptly letting her voice fade off as she noticed the look her brother had directed her way.

"and how many bodies have you thrown overboard already this week sister?" He hissed in her ear, glancing over his shoulder to insure than none of the other life boat occupants could hear their conversation, yet he seemed to already know that they were far to absorbed in their own fear and trauma to listen to hushed conversations of those sitting nearby.

Rebekah looked down at her shoes. She knew Nik was right. She had spent the late hours of the night draining her fellow passengers of their blood, only to dump their corpses into the icy waters below once she was finished with them. A fine burial at sea.

"That's what I thoughts." He muttered, reading his sisters thoughts from the expression on her face.

"So I beg you, not to let your compassion show now." True be told, it was Klaus himself who was struggling with the whole ordeal. He had never planned on boarding a life boat. He and Rebekah had been simply standing on deck, waiting for correct moment to make their exit into the dark waters below. It was understandable why Rebekah had been rushed forward and into a life boat. Seeing as procedure stated , women and children first, yet Bekah had held tight to Klaus hand pulling him alongside her, unsure of their destination. When she was ushered into the final life boat, he had tried to detach his hand from hers, but found himself pushed forward into the seat alongside his sister. He found himself being lowered away from the ships decks, sitting amongst frightened woman, confused children, and men who had bribed and forced their way to safety.

Klaus had killed before. Countless times, yet never before had he taken a life for no reason. He had killed for thirst and hunger, even for revenge, yet never had he knowingly deprived a person of their chance to live, for no reason at all.

Someone else could be in his seat at this very moment, being lowered to safety. It wasn't as if he needed this boat to survive. Far from it. Hell, he thought as he watched those around him lift heavy paddles from the boats sides, he could probably swim to shore faster.

The life boats sat all together in a cluster, Meer yards from the sinking vessel and the hundreds of people flailing in the waters around it. Klaus tried to block out the sounds of those dying so close. Trying not to think of which one of them would be in his place right now if he had only dived into the water when he had a chance.

He did not know how long they sat there. The humans around him and his sister huddled together, desperate for warmth. Nik became aware of the sudden silence. He was not sure now long ago those in the water had gone silent, he was unclear on how much time had passed, how long he had spent huttled in small boat, feeling guilty for a murder he didn't even commit.

Suddenly everything changed; boats were pulled closer together, passengers traded from one to another. It was announced that a boat was heading back, to search for survivors in the water.

In a flash, Klaus was on his feet, moving so quickly that the boat didn't even have time to shift under his moving weight. Before the boats operators could object, he was safely seated in the returning boat. If he could save a life from the water, maybe we wouldn't be so guilty for depriving another of theirs.

Soon, the small vessel was wading through thick throngs of corpses. Bodies frozen over, frost clinging in their hair and eye brows. Their eyes glassed over, almost as if they were wistfully watching them pass, regretting their inability to call out for help.

Klaus sat silently, listening. Listening for anything, a single breath, a heartbeat, any sound at all that would indicate that someone, anyone was still alive.

Then it happened. A faint beat. Growing slower, fading off, but most defiantly there. Ten feet away, floated a young girl, her blonde hair glued to her face by the frost that had formed all around her.

"Stop" Klaus commanded. The operator and his assistant turned around to face him. Shocked almost, as if they had forgotten he was there.

" That girls still alive" He breathed out, Leaning farther over the edge to get a closer look.

The operator turned his light on her, shining it into her pale frost covered face. He shouted in her direction, just as he had been shouting to the open field of people before, and just as before, he earned no response.

" Don't know what you're on about mate. " He stated turning his attention back to the front of the tiny boat, as his assistant continued to check the bodies on either side of the ship.

" Turn back" He demanded. Listening as the heart beat grew fainter with every passing second.

"What's that?"

" We have to save her!" His half shout echoed like a cannon in the too quiet night, projecting his voice across the water.

" My priority." The man spat back

" is to find survivors not weigh to boat down with pretty corpses!"

What Nik did next was rash. Stupid even. Thinking back on it he really could have just compelled the man to turn the boat around and return to the girl. Yet instead he stripped himself of his jacket and dove straight into the water.

"Are you flaming mad? Do you have a death wish! What you think you're playing at!" Klaus ignored the shouts from the life boat behind him. Pushing through the corpses around him, until he reached the barely living girl. It wasn't until he got up close that he realized who exactly he was saving. He had watched her from his dinner table almost every night, occasionally caught her staring back at him, blushing and then quickly turning away. Those fleeting moments of eye contact, were the only times he saw her smile. When he glanced over at her table she always seemed to be in a state of pure misery, as if she was trapped in a prison cell rather than on a luxury ocean liner. As he danced with his sister, he stole glances in her direction, as her eyes followed the other dancers, and sometimes landed on him. He had considered going up to her countless times, but something in his sisters knowing gaze had always stopped him.

Yet now here they were. In the middle of the ocean, with her only seconds away from certain death. He had imagined holding her in his arms for the first time, dancing across the ball room floor. Now he held onto her for dear life dragging her failing body towards the life boat that had surged forward to rescue the mad man who had dived into the water to retrieve what they believed to be a dead body.

Klaus lifted the girl out of the water, pushing her into the life boat, before allowing the two men to hoist him up by his shirt.

In the commotion he had stopped listening for the sound of her heart, and once he was finally back in the boa, he realized it was no longer there. He knew his blood would cure her, but her heart had be beating for it to actually take effect.

His hand pressed down against her heart. Willing it to go on. Just one beat. That was all he needed. Up and down up and down. He pressed a breath of air into her mouth. The other men standing over him, shaking their head at the guy trying to revive a corpse. Up and down, up and down, He pressed harder, and blew another breath into her lungs. Then she was coughing, and gasping for air. He pulled his discarded coat around her body before pulling her close against his chest. The water from his sopping hair fell into her face, as he bit down harshly on his wrist and then offered it to her. Without knowing what was going on she accepted liquid willingly, letting it heal her without her knowledge. He held onto her tighter than before, breathing out a sigh of relief.

End of chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Klaus was completely oblivious to his surroundings. From the continued shouts of the life boat operator, or when a shivering body was hauled into the boat around him. The only thing he could hear was the constant beating of the girl in her arms heart. She had gone still. Her eyes cemented shut, and so he listened, fearing that her heart would falter and she would fall backwards into darkness.

His blood still flowed through her veins and if her body failed her now, she would be thrust into a life that never ended. All those nights he had watched her. Watched the sadness and despair that filled her eyes. How could he be the one to condemn her to live in that sadness for all eternity?

He had spent hundreds of years living in the guilt of his brother's death. It had been his fault that Henrik had followed him to watch the wolfs transform , and he would have with that every day for the rest of his never ending life, and he would not, and could not let that happen to the girl he now held.

Whatever was troubling her, whatever was eating away at her soul and sending her into such a horrible state of being, he would fix it. He would find a way to fix it. He had to. Just as long as he could keep her heart beating.

It wasn't until all the survivors were safely onto a rescue ship, and the girl had been removed from his arms and rushed away from him, did Nik realize the selfishness of what he had just done. Sure he had rescued the girl from the water, but what about the others. He had sat in that life boat clinging to a clearly lifeless body, as others were pulled from the fidgeted depths. He possessed the power to save them. A single drop of his blood would stop their shaking, calm their hearts and ease their lungs.

Yet he had sat there so fixated on saving one life that he had forgotten about all the others around him. When had this happened? When had he suddenly decided to care about someone other than himself? His humanity was showing. After years of caring about nothing, and no one (his sister not included) he suddenly found himself distraught about the loss of life all around him.

It took three days to reach port in New York, in that time Klaus sat outside the locked door of the small room of the ship that had been appointed as the infirmary. His head rested against the wall. When was the last time he blinked? He wasn't really sure. He had fixated his vision on one point on the opposite wall. He could still hear her heart. Instead of a single beckon of hope in an otherwise silent night, it was now mixed and muffled with the sounds of hundreds of others. Yet he could still pick it out from all the others. It was etched into her brains. He had taken to counting the beats in each passing minute.

He felt the toe of a boot digging into his side, nudging him out of his trance.

"Get up Nik" he clenched his jaw, bracing himself for whatever his sister had to throw his way.

"Are you just going sit there sulking for the rest of eternity? Because honestly I'm getting a little tired of it" he didn't move, he barely heard the words his sister spat down on him. Beat 31103, beat 31104, beat 33105.

"We're going to be at port in less than an hour, I suggest you make yourself presentable." Rebekah stalked away, rolling her eyes at how oblivious her brother was to his surroundings. She turned the corner pushing past the heavy doors and out into the open air.

The skyline of the city was growing ever closer, the deck below her filled with hundreds of people, anxious to reach land, to plant their feet on solid soil and have the weight lifted from their shoulders and finally knowing that they were safe from the endless waters that were now a grave yard for people who only days ago stood beside them basking the glow and glory of the world's first "Unsinkable" ship.

Rebekah watched them. She could pick them out of the crowed. The people who had lost someone dear to them, their eyes were hallow and unseeing. The city stood before them, yet they saw nothing but what they had left at the bottom of the ocean.

She fixed her sights on the city. She could see the throngs of people waiting on the docks with baited breath. Nervously awaiting the ships arrival. Some were waiting to see if it was true. If the ship they said would never sink had actually claimed the lives of so many.

Maybe they still held hope that it had been a mistake, a miss print in the paper, but as the ship docked it became clear, that those few hundred people who stepped onto the off the ship's deck, were the only ones returning home.

She did her best not to think of the families who were waiting for loved ones who would never be returning home. She felt the weakness within her. For that moment she let her heart ache. She had always been the most human of her family. There were many times when her emotions got the best of her and she found herself slipping back into her past habits. Caring too much, getting attached only to have everything torn away from her. Feeling led to caring, and caring led to getting hurt.

The past three days were a complete blur. She faded in and out of consciousness. Never staying aware enough to take in her surroundings for more than a few moments, her mind blank, trying to block out the memory of the water on her skin, or how each breath she took only killed her faster. She held no memory of the time leaving the New York docks and arriving at her room in the large hospital in the middle of the city.

It was in that hospital bed the first time she felt truly wake. She traced her hands over the bruises on her chest; the deep purple and black markings traced the area over her heart, where a complete stranger had reached into the darkness and pulled her back into the land of the living, or what could pass for it anyway.

She was being held in the hospital overnight, so her case could be properly assessed, even though, aside from her bruises she was in perfect health. She stayed curled in a ball facing away from the door and the other patients in the ward around her. She tried not to think of the people who had lain in this bed prior to her. Who may have died there?

The truth was, she had been thinking a lot about death lately. Even before that night, when she had come so close to it, death had been on her mind. What it would feel like. What would come next? Who would miss her?

The correct answer, she thought honestly to herself, would be no one. Her parents had shipped her off to the other side of the world without a second thought, happy to be rid of the rebel child who was tarnishing the good family name. She didn't even want to think about those who had been waiting for her at the dock in Halifax.

She shuttered at the very idea. Just then, she heard footsteps coming towards her end of the ward, then a face was crouched down before hers, and she was finally looking into the eyes of the man who had saved her. They sat there, for a moment or two, just looking, taking in ever feature of the others appearance, and committing it to memory. He reached up to tuck a strand of lose hair behind her ear,

``What's your name love? `` His hand still resting gently on the back of her neck, his voice soft. She thought for a minute before breathing out

``Caroline``

**So it's been a while…sorry. I was planning to write a chapter on Thursday night but I got called into work, but I've got some time free now. **

**I'm tweaking facts in this, so I know that a lot of things are not historically accurate so I apologize. **

**Also I know it doesn't really make sense for Caroline to have bruises seeing as she's already been fed Klaus's blood and that heals you and whatever, but for the purpose of this chapter they still show up:P**

**Thanks for your support **


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Caroline could feel the weight of her eye lids growing ever heavier as she fought to keep them open. True she had been technically sleeping for days, yet those fitful hours of fading between un consciousness and reality had drained nearly as much out of her as the water itself had.

The man who had been crouched by her bedside her bedside had straightened his form, removing his hand from her face, and striding away from her. Caroline lifted her head, letting her gaze follow the man until he came to a stop at the doorway, catching hold of a doctor's arm and pulling him to the side. She continued to watch him, still fixated on her supposed saviour. Her memory of that night was blurred, her thoughts hazed and jumbled together. One moment she was falling backwards into the unknown and the next….

Had he been in the water too? Floating somewhere near by? But how could that be? She had listened and watched as those around her had gone still, their cries disappearing into the night until everything around her was hauntingly silent. She had kicked her legs and circled her arms, desperate to keep in motion, creating ripples in the waters all around her. Yet he had held her body with such strength, clinging to her form. Yet it had seemed that he too had just emerged from the water. She had felt small drops of water fall against her forehead as she leaned against his chest.

"How is she?" Klaus asked searching the doctor's face for answers.

"It's as I said before Mr. Mikelson, for her situation, for any situation really, her condition is rather astounding. Her body seems to be in perfect condition, no hints of frost bite, or infection, but she seems to be in a state of shock. We've been having trouble getting her to communicate with us, haven't a word out of her yet, which makes locating someone to release her too difficult. The ships passenger registry has yet to be located, and with her mental state, we're not permitted to set her out on her own." Ha dug his teeth into the side of his cheek, tasting his own blood in his mouth. He felt a pair of claw like nails dig into his arms, pulling him towards the doorway and into the hallway.

"Enough already Nik! I put up with your sulking for the past few days, but I've had it. I'm not going to wait around for you to get over whatever little trip you've gone on this time. "Klaus diverted his eyes from his sister's accusatory gaze, letting his sights wonder back into the ward.

"Look, I'm heading out west, come find me once you're finished with whatever hell this is." Rebekah turned on her heels, stalking away from her brother, turning the corner and leaving his line of vision. Normal he would have been furious at his sister's abandonment, yet having the responsibility of looking out for his sister lifted off his shoulder did give him on odd sense of lightness. His mind was now revolving on one thing.

"Drink up sweetheart." He placed the cup of water in the girls pale hands, before sitting down on the edge of her bed, The girl, Caroline, looked down at the water for a long time, before looking up to meet his gaze.

"How did you do it? I know you weren't in the water that night. God, why did you do it?"

"That's a question I can't quite answer, Love. You see I don't quite know myself" That was true. He had acted so rashly that night, yet thinking back on it, he didn't remember why. All he could think about was saving her. Not saving one more person, or even hundreds, just… her. Klaus placed his hand atop her knee, running his hand back and forth along the rough fabric of the hospital bed spreads.

"Is there someone the doctors can contact for you?" She shook her head.

"I'd rather they didn't, not quite yet anyway." She looked down at her hands still clasped onto the cup of un touched water.

"Come off it, I'm sure your family is worried about you Love, in less" He faded off, oh god, what had be done, what if they had perished in the waters around her. Had he pushed past their bodies on his way to his daughters rescue?

"Oh no, there fine, it was just me" her breath hitched at the thought of her parents, of her so called family. She was hard pressed to imagine them being worried. It's not like they cared what happened to her anymore, they had washed their hands of her the second her foot at landed on the ship's deck. Not even bothering to stick around long enough to see the ship safely off, waving from the ports decks, like other family members or excited bystanders.

Her relationship with her family had been strained from the start. Next to her older sister, Caroline had been nothing but a disappointment. A rebel child they couldn't keep in line. She had felt so suffocated in her life. Her parents judging gaze and condescending manner trying to force her into what they saw as a proper life.

The last straw had come only months before, and they had followed through with a threat they had been holding over her head since she was barely thirteen. Caroline had been caught sneaking back into her house at three in the morning, her hair in knots, tucking into a cap, dressed in her cousin, Matts old clothes, she knew she had really done it that time.

Back when they had lived in America, there was no one she had detested more than their "friendly" neighbors the Lockwoods. Carol and Richard Lockwood and been even worse than her parents. Watching her every move, shaking their heads when she would come back from a day in the woods, covered in dirt, satisfied by her day's adventure, and felt more than comfortable voicing their opinions about her, and anyone else that matter, for all to hear, but nothing, nothing, was worse than their son. Tyler. She shuttered just thinking of his name.

In Caroline's mind, she was basically being sentenced to death. Life with the Lockwoods. Maybe the water was a better option.

"I just want to be someone else. Just for a few days" Klaus smiled down at her, but the sadness in her eyes was mirrored in his own.

"Whatever you say, love" his hand still rubbing up and down her lower leg.

**Okay, sorry for a late update. This chapter is kind of shit…sorry. And its super short…..sorry**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Despite having been sleeping for the better part of the week, Caroline found herself slipping once again into unconsciousness. For the first time in months, she dreamed of something beautiful. There had been countless nights that she been awoken from endless nightmares that she knew would soon morph into her miserable reality. Yet when she closed her eyes that night, her mind was suddenly light up with a world of colors and brightness. She found herself in the woods behind her old home in Virginia. The sunlight streaked through the tree illuminating patches of ground around her. It was as if she were nine years old again. Running between trees, climbing as high as she could to catch a glimpse above the tree tops. She remembered sitting there for hours, gazing out at what laid past her families land, past the small town, and the condescending gazes of everyone in it. She would lean her head against the trees trunk and day dream. Imagining a day where she could go where ever she pleased without feeling the weight of her parents expectations on her shoulders.

In real life that was about the time when Tyler Lockwood would come peeking out from behind a tree, trying to catch a glimpse up her skirt, before trying to scold her for being in the woods without supervision. She would come sulking out of the woods a few minutes later; Tyler running in front of her to inform his parents just what she had been up to. With her boots caked in dry mud, and tree sap stuck in her long blonde hair, she would hurry up the deck, past her parents and the Lockwoods, who had been sitting on the porch for their annual later after noon sit down. Carol would laugh playfully, while slipping in snide comments about the state Caroline had returned in.

But in this dream land, there was no Tyler Lockwood to disrupt her happiness, instead another man stood at the base of the tree, a man whose face she was beginning to come accustom too, a large smile spread across his face, staring up at her laughing happily at a joke he seemed only to share with himself.

Caroline pushed off from the tree branch below her, somehow landing lightly on the ground in front of the man below, she too began to laugh along with him, as if merely being in his presence lightened her mood. His arms wrapped around her waist, as she lifted her arms to drape around his neck.

Suddenly they were no longer among the trees. They had left small forest in Virginia behind, and were now in the middle of a dance floor, on the very boat that Caroline knew now resided at the bottom of the Atlantic.

They joined their fellow dancers, moving to flow of the music and the rocking of the boat. She was suddenly in the fantasy she had found herself dreaming about almost every night aboard the blasted ship. She allowed the man to lead her around the dance floor, enjoying the safety and warmth of his arms. She allowed her eyes to drift over to the very table she had sat at every night, watching as the man she danced with at the very moment twirled another girl across the floor. She wondered about that girl for a moment, where she was and what she was doing as her companion sat at Caroline's bed side. She shook her head. Enjoying this moment of happiness, before signing, remembering that his wonderful life she was leading at the moment, was nothing but a dream, and sooner or later she would have to open her eyes and continue to brave the reality that was her life.

Klaus watched as Caroline slept. The almost smile that laced her lips brought a warmth into his stomach. How few times he had witnessed any bouts of happiness on the girls face. The few moments of embarrassment that flashed across her face when their eyes met all those nights ago was the happiest he had seen her. What plagued the poor girl's soul? She had refused any contact the doctors had offered her. He recalled her saying mear hours before her longing to be someone else, if only for a little while.

What waited her when her reality came crawling back? He wondered. His chest tightened at the thought. The idea of anyone or anything causing harm or disappear to such a creature hurt him. What was she running from? And more importantly, how exactly could he fix it?

What was he thinking? Never before had such compassion racked at his soul. He had flicked off the majority of his humanity a long time ago, saving flecks of it for his sisters benefit. But now? He barely knew the girl who laid in the bed before him, yet he felt such responsibility and longing for her. To bring a smile to her face, and to breathe life into her hopeless domineer.

Saving her had started out as a way to clear the guilt that nagged at his chest after taking a seat in that life boat. Now she was safe. His job done, a life for a life. Yet he couldn't bring himself to get up from his place beside her bed and get in with his life. He knew his sister was waiting. She would be on her way out west, and it would take just a few days for Klaus to catch up with her. But leaving the girl before him was not an option.

He didn't know what would become of this. What he would say to her when she woke up. What he would do when the truth about her life was forced into the open, but for now, all he could do was watch her sleep, and enjoy the flickers of happiness that danced across her face.

After a few more hours she began to stir, stretching her limbs, and crinkling her face together, as if disappointed to find herself awake. She gratefully accepted the water he placed in her hands, yet took several moments before bringing it to her lips.

He had noticed her hesitation towards it many times before. Everytime he or a nurse had incouraged her to take swig for cup that was constantly in her hands, her breathing hitched, and she waited several moments, as if talking herself into bringing the liquid any closer to her body.

She was silent for a while, her face blank, and her eyes focusing of something that seemed to be far, far away. In all honesty she was avoiding looking at him, embarrassed at his presence in the dream she had just been having, and even more embarrassed at how pleased she was that he was still there. She had been almost positive that he would have vacated the ever so depressing hospital while she had been in her coma type sleep. Yet when she opened her eyes, there he was. Her nameless saviour. Nameless….. in all the nights she had watched him, fascinated by his every move she had never even gotten as far as to inquire from those around her his name. She decided it was fitting now, for her to know.

"Nicklaus." He said simply, watching as she lifted the cup to her lips taking a long drink, letting the liquid flood her mouth, flowing down her throat and calming the burn that had been ignited from her lack of constant hydration.

" But you may call me Nik, or Klaus, which ever you see fit." Watching her drink had reminded him of his own thirst. Caroline gave him a slight smile, something that sent his head into a tail spin of joy and light headed ness. He excused himself for a moment, promising to return soon, as he saw a split second of panic flare into her eyes.

Nik, jumped down a few flights of stare, snatching a blood bag from a donation area, before locking himself into a private room to quench his thirst. He wasn't that big of a fan of bagged blood, but he couldn't just feed in the middle of a crowded hospital, not without slight precautions. Percautions he didn't have time to take.

He wanted to be close to her again. Something about her drew him to her. He knew she was sad now, but her had a feeling like there as something there, someone who had the power to light up an entire room, with nothing but a single laugh.

Klaus ran back up the stairs, he was about to enter the ward when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to find Caroline's doctor standing behind him. He had compelled the mane the day before to give him constant updates on her health, he knew that taking such measures was un necessary. That his blood has long cured any damage the wreckage might have caused.

" We received a telegram for the girl this morning, it seems she's been identified. She'll be collected later this afternoon." The man turned away from Klaus, walking back into the ward as if oblivious to the fact that he had even said anything to him in the first place.

Niks stomach dropped. They were coming for her. He didn't know how "they "was per say, but whoever they were they must be what was causing her such despair.

He watched as Caroline crumpled the paper in her hands, chucking in across the room, before pulling her knees up against her chest, and running her hands her tangled hair. Klaus returned to sit beside her.

" back to reality" She muttered into her knees, fighting her tears she could feel beginning to well up in her eyes.

Klaus shifted onto the bed beside her, pulling her against his chest, and wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

Caroline allowed this practically stranger to comfort her. She felt the safety that emitted from his every move.

"Not quite yet" He muttered, placing his chin a top her head.

**I wanted to make this longer, but my laptop is about to die and my charger is packed away in my suitcase for some odd reason, despite that I need to charge my book before I leave tomorrow. Not smart thinking on my part. **


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Caroline hated breaking down this way. Especially in front of someone she still considered a stranger. All her life she had prided herself on being able to take care of herself, hold her own. Her parents were far too distracted with her older sister, or keeping up appearances to pay much attention to their youngest child. She had become accustom to caring for herself, and that had led to closing the rest of her world off to the real Caroline/

So how did she get here? Crying into the arm of a complete stranger. Every emotion she had been feeling for the past months all came flooding outward at once. All the anger and dread and sadness propelled itself out of her body in one swift movement.

Yet instead of screaming or sobbing out her frustration, it was silent tears that ran down her cheeks. Suddenly she was shifting out of the man-, Klaus's arms, wiping the tears from her own cheeks.

No.

She thought to herself. No. She wouldn't let them win. This wasn't who she was; she wasn't some damsel in need of saving, or a delinquent child who desperately needed to be straightened out.

She knew who she was, and she wasn't going to let anything, not even the Lockwood's, take that from her.

"I'm Sorry" she said, laughing a little at herself, wiping a final tear from her eye.

"I swear I'm not usually like this." She stated, sweeping her hair out of her face, Klaus broke into a slight smile, for on some level, he already knew that.

They spent the next few hours talking. About what? Neither of them was really sure. But they both found themselves doing something neither had done in a long time. Laughing. Not a forced chuckle or slight scoff at themselves. No, they were actually, laughing. Somehow it was as if they could both forget about the world going on outside the hospital ward. For the first time in years Klaus's mind was completely clear of all thoughts of ancient curses, on the run Doppelgangers or his crazy so called father who had been stalking him for as long as he could remember.

"Ms. Forbes?" Their trance like state was broken. Suddenly it wasn't just the two of them in the room anymore. The moans of other patients, the sharpness of the nurses voices bouncing off the walls around them filled their ears and brought them back down to reality.

"Your town car has arrived." The nurse smiled brightly at her, under the impression that she had delivered news worth celebrating over, rather than the final verdict on her death sentence.

Caroline bit down harshly on the inside of her cheek, drawing blood. Klaus's heart hitched a bit at the scent.

The sensation of the liquid in her mouth was strangely familiar to her, like her mouth took in the taste the way they would a preferred food. It wasn't as if it was the first time she had tasted her own blood. There had been plenty of times in her childhood when she had bitten down harshly on the inside of her own cheeks or the middle of her tongue, but never before had this sensation washed over her. It lasted only seconds, as if her body had realized the true nature of the situation and stopped the self-inflicted high right in its tracks.

Caroline slid out of the bed, placing her feet on the cold hospital floor, breathing deeply, relishing in every moment she had before her life was once again changed forever. As she dressed in the clothing that had been provided for her, she was once again reminded of the resentment she felt towards her gender. She hated the feeling of the constricting tights and restricting never ending skirts. She longed for the comfort of the baggy trousers and cozy wool sweater she had practically lived before her parents had caught on. Her cousin Matt had snuck her his old belonging after he no longer fit them.

So almost every night, once she was sure her parents were sleeping soundly, she would slip into the oversized garments, tuck her long hair into a cap and just walk. The night air would waft over her face, clearing her mind, and cleansing her from that day's frustrations. Her wardrobe choices gave off the impression that she was simply a young lad out for a midnight stroll, rather than a venerable girl wondering on her own in the dead of night.

How she longed for those ill fitted sweaters now, she thought as she fussed with the long skirt. She picked up the large brimmed hat from the chair in the corner, before scoffing and chucking it away from her. It sailed across the room like a saucer, landing at the feet of the far too cheery nurse who had come to hurry her along.

Nik trailed behind the small group who descended the hospital stairs, trying to suppress the emotions that were attempting to boil over inside of him.

"Pull it together." He whispered to himself. This girl should be nothing to him. Less than nothing. She could easily join the ranks of those he had drained dry in a matter of minutes. Yet his heart ached at the idea of letting her go.

What was it she was being shipped off too? What was waiting for her? He had witnessed her smile, and couldn't stand the idea of the world living without it for the rest of time. Could he sentence her to sadness? How could he stop it?

Before he had time to gather his thoughts he was feeling the cold rush of fresh air hit his face, The small group of nurses who had escorted them out of the building had disbanded and were heading back inside to continue with their regular routines, blissfully unaware of the role they had played in darkening the whole of Caroline's existence.

The tiny door to the hired car stood open, waiting for her to climb in and begin her track to the depths of her own little slice of hell.

Caroline swallowed the lump in her throat, turning away from the awaiting vehicle and back towards the hospital, and the man she would now have to bid Farwell. They had come such a far way from the glances they had shared with each other all those nights ago, when the ship of dreams still sailed the high seas. The man before her had become much more than a handsome stranger; he was suddenly, her un likely saviour, her hero…. Her friend. God she would miss his laugh. Funny that today would be the first, and the last time she would hear it, yet she was almost sure that it would be ringing in her ears for the rest of her natural life. Today, was the first time she had found herself laughing again. She had felt lasting joy, and now all at once, she would lose it just as she had before.

She placed her hand in his out stretched one, and allowed him to lift it her lips, kissing it lightly in this final act of farewell.

They both spoke words the other struggled to hear. Why was it that saying goodbye to someone you'd known for only days, was far more difficult than saying goodbye to the only families either of them had never had.

Caroline turned away again. Taking a step towards the waiting car, beginning to climb into its waiting backseat, when Klaus voice broke through the awkward silence of their goodbye.

"Caroline"

She whipped around to look at him again

His voice was soft, yet sharp, he could feel the desperation building up in his own throat, before the words he couldn't help himself from speaking came rushing out.

"Would you mind if I accompanied you home?" Oh god what had he done? He thought to himself. She was going to say no. Fuck Nik, why do you have to ruin everything. Yet to his surprise her face broke out into a smile. A smile far larger than any other he had witnessed grace her face. She nodded lightly, while she spoke, trying to keep the obvious joy out of her voice and prevent it from shaking

"I'd like that"

**Sorry for not updating. I don't know if any of you even care that much, but I'm still sorry :P it was a hectic week, I had go to the coast for a few days, and blah blah blah, anyway I'm going to attempt to update a few times this week seeing as I am going to be out of the country for a few weeks starting march 15****th****. **


	7. Chapter 7

**So it's been a while….a long while. I feel like the last time I actually attempted to write a chapter was in the beginning of March. Then I went on vacation for spring break, and I just never started writing again… I'm sorry: /**

**Well let's see if I can actually do this…**

Chapter 7

"Yes, I need ticket departing on the 9pm train to Richmond."

Klaus slid a few bills through the slot of the window of the ticket booth in the New York train station. They had ridden to together in to the station in silence. Glancing over at the person next to them when they were sure that the other wasn't looking, yet despite the lack of conversation, they both felt more at ease then either of them could remember, and for Klaus that was longer then he cared to foreclose.

"I'm sorry sir." The man behind the window didn't look up from the sheets he had been scribbling furiously on since Klaus had approached the window, his voice monotone and emotionless, clearly ready for his work day to be over.

"All trains departing west are completely full; I can't offer you an available ticket for any time before 11am tomorrow morning." Klaus shoved the bills back through the slot, into the workers hands, smudging the ink on his papers. The man startled, looking up at Klaus's face and into his eyes.

"One ticket please." The small slip of paper was almost immediately slid into his hand. He strode away, leaving the man in the booth dazed, not quite sure what had just happened.

When Klaus had left to buy his ticket, Caroline had been leaning against the large wooden door frame of the open doors to the train's platform. The wind from the passing trains blowing her hair straight out behind her, making her eyes water and goose bumps raise on her skin.

He returned to the same spot in which he left her, to find the post she had taken up deserted. He took a deep breathe, trying to keep himself from panicking. He closed his eyes, opening his ears, searching for the now familiar sound of Caroline's heartbeat. The steady thump reached his ears, and he spun around, striding back the way he came, pass the ticket stalls, and through the back doors of the station. He took a few steps away from the building before launching himself away from the ground and onto the station roof. He landed lightly on his feet a full story away from the ground.

There she sat, on the edge of the station roof, her back to him. Her chin was tucked up on top of her knees, pulled tight to her chest, not caring about the grim that was sure to now coat the bottom of the expensive garments the Lockwoods had sent for her.

"and how did you get up her?" She turned her head, a small smile spreading across her face.

"Same way as you, I imagine" she called back. A smirk spread across his face, looking down at his shoes, if only she knew.

He walked lightly across the roof feeling the metal bend slightly under the weight of his step. He plopped himself down beside her. They sat together in silence for a few minutes staring out at the scenery below them. In the distance they could see the harbor, and bridges leading onto the small island. Caroline's voice broke the silence.

"Do you ever think about time?" she asked, ripping her eyes away from the world before her and down at her folded hands.

If Klaus was being honest, No, he hadn't. Not for a very long time anyway. Before he could answer she spoke again.

"I mean I was right there" She stated pointing at the docks in the distance.

"Just a few days ago, and now I'm leaving and I'll never seen this place or any of these people again. Ill just be stuck in that god damned tow-"she stopped herself her hand coming up to rest on her forehead.

"I'm sorry. I hope I didn't offend you or anything; I'm not very good with people. "She stated blowing a piece of stray hair out of her face.

"Where is it I'm taking you exactly?" the curiosity had been killing him since the very first day they had spoken in the hospital. She let out a heavy breathe running her fingers through her hair, pushing it out of her face, before biting down on the inside of her lower lip.

"Somewhere I've been running from for a very long time, but I guess it's kind of impossible to out run your life huh?" Klaus looked down at his hands. He had been running from his own father for hundreds of years, running from his old life was the one thing he was sure he was good at. Yet her words struck the cord of what it meant to run forever, only to be caught and handed your sentence anyway.

Running from his father had led to others running from him. The chaser chasing the chaser chasing the chased.

He glanced down at his watch, rising to his feet and brushing the dirt off his pants.

"We better get going if we're going to catch that train." Caroline sighed heavily.

"If we must." Klaus extended his hand to her, helping her to her feet. She held tight to his hand even after rising to her feet. She extended her arm out, and stepped right to the edge, putting one foot carefully in front of the other, using Klaus arms to keep her steady.

If Klaus hadn't known that he could be on the ground to catch her in less than a second, he was sure that he would have been paralyzed with fear.

He followed Caroline to the flimsily ladder that must have been her original access point to the roof. They boarded the train a few minutes after landing safely on the ground. Klaus compelled a few people out of a private compartment and into the dining car for the night.

They sat on opposite sides of the carriage from each other, once again in silence, and it got Klaus to thinking, what it would be like not to run alone.

**Sorry for the short chapter **


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The train rattled beneath Klaus feet as he made his way back from the dining car, two cups of tea and a mountain of pastries balanced on the tray in his hands. Caroline had fallen asleep long before the train had crossed from New York and into Pennsylvania. Klaus had stayed awake, watching the moon out the window, thinking about his past on the ground that raced below him. He thought about his family. Of how simple life had been when the only thing standing in between him and death was a split second. How fragile life had been then. He had watched his brother die before he even had a chance to live, and now he himself had lived enough for both of them, a thousand times over.

Klaus slide the door of their compartment door open with his foot, edging inside doing his best not to spill the teetering cups of tea. How much easier it would have been if he could move at the un natural swift speed he was used to, but it was trying to avoid alerting the already shaken girl that she was riding across country with a thousand year old monster.

He closed the carriage door behind him, but when he turned to face the space in front of him, he found the seats before him deserted. He placed the tray on the tiny table attached to the window, watching as the liquid in the tea cups shook with every passing moment. He ran his hand along the seat, he could still feel the fading warmth of where her body had been, she hadn't gone far, but what would he do if she had? It wasn't as if he had grounds to go after her, they were barely even friends, and he was a tag along on her life, merely avoiding his own.

He followed his scenes, roaming back down the train cars hall before coming to a stop at the entrance to the car, the tiny staircase down to the open air, as the crop field sped by. There she stood, leaning against the side of the car, her air whipping around her face. The toes of her shoes hanging off the last step, A few inches more and she would be gone.

Klaus approached her; careful not to frighten her for fear that she would startle and go tumbling to the ground below. She looked back at him as he stopped on the step above her. A ghost of a smile spreading across her face before she turned back to the field in front of her.

"You know it wasn't that long ago that I stood right here. Looking out at these same fields only in the other direction, racing towards my new life rather than towards my old one" she looking back at him, before laughing a bit and sighing heavily, running her fingers through her hair.

"God, I'm not usually like this, I swear. This place, these people, they make me something that I'm just not, but this time tomorrow I'll be stuck there, going through the motions for the rest of my life." He step down, now sharing the same sliver of space with her.

"Maybe not" He said softly. She looked up at him her face thick with confusion.

"I'm not saying you don't have to go back eventually. Trust me running forever isn't exactly fun, but there's no harm in taking a little detour."

" Were on a one way bullet train straight to my keepers door step, how exactly do you expect to deviate from our travel schedule?" He took a step forward, closing the space between them.

"Do you trust me?" she smirked up at him.

"Should I?" He laughed a bit.

"Just close your eyes." After a few moments of hesitation, she let her eye lids fall. Klaus acted quickly, looping his arms firmly around her waist and threw himself out of the train. He landed lightly on his feet, placing Caroline down in front of him. The train sped past, her hair flying around her face.

" How did you-"

" I have my ways" He stated, smirked at her bewildered face.

" The same ways you pulled me from the water?" The color drained from his face.

" Yeah, I remember. I couldn't figure out how to bring it up, or if I even should. I mean it doesn't make sense, but I guess nothing in my life has lately. Especially not this"

" Caroline.." He started but he cut her off.

" You don't have to tell me." She stated looking him dead in the eye.

"Ill figures it out, eventually." He smiled down at his shoes

" Now come on." She grabbed his arm and began to pull him across the train tracks and through the field on the opposite side.

" You promised me an adventure." He laughed.

" I don't believe I used those words." She rolled her eyes, but continued to pull him along, her hand loosening her grip on his arm, and falling to lightly take his hand. They walked for hours, talking lightly about nothing really, before the sun began to set in the distance, and Klaus could see the exhaustion growing on Caroline's face. He stopped abruptly, she continued trying to continue to pull him along, when he didn't budge she turned around, confusion spreading across her face.

" Come here," he pulled her towards him, she shuffled forward, the confusion in her face turning to curiosity. He hoisted her onto his back, the bottom of her heavy dress now covered with grass and mud from the fields.

" You may want to close your eyes again." He stated, securing his arms around her knees so she sat safely on his back.

" I'd rather not" She stated, lopping her arms around his necks, resting her chin on his shoulder.

" if you say so." And with that he took off, running through the fields quicker than the train had been traveling the night before.

They came to a stop a few hundred miles away in front of a small inn on the edge of Philadelphia. Klaus placed Caroline on her feet. Her eyes watering from the fast wind. she wiped her eyes and shook out her hair. Before bursting into laughter.

" You couldn't have done that before I walked a million miles in these hellish boots!" She lifted her destroyed skirt to reveal the heeled laced ups that the so called Lockwoods had supplied her with.

" All in good time love. All in good time"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"So" Caroline started, unfolding a map of the dusty bar they had taken up residents in since arriving in Philadelphia

" We could go through Ohio, then over to Indiana, down to Kentucky, and then Virginia. Or down through West Virginia, down through the Carolinas and circle back through Tennessee to Virginia. OR my personal favorite, we head back up to New York, cross over into Canada and th-"

"That's a lot of ground to cover in 48 hours" Klaus laughed, finishing off his drink in one swift movement, and motioning to the bar man to refill his glass.

" Not up to it?" She taunted, taking the freshly poured drink out of Klaus hand and taking a large swing, savoring the burn as the liquid raced down her float.

"It's not me I'm worried about!" he laughed, snatching the drink from Caroline's hand and bringing the glass to his lips, trying not to focus on the fact that both their lips had touched the same surface.

" Don't worry, I can hold my own, epically if you using that little running trick of yours." Despite her light and joking tone, he could see the strings of curiosity and worry laced in her eyes.

" I have plenty tricks up my sleeve" he stated, as he lowered his glass onto the table, Caroline's hand lunged for it, snatching it back from him. Their fingers brushed as she wrapped her fingers around the glass and tugging it away and up to her lips. Klaus felt he breath catch in his chest, Caroline however, seemed completely unfazed by this encounter as she finished off the remained of the liquid in their apparently shared glass.

"Take it easy there." Klaus said, laughing slightly, taking the glass from her and placing it lightly on the table in front of them.

"Oh come on, these are my last nights to do anything fun….like ever! Soon enough it'll just be "Sit up Straight Caroline" "Now Caroline that is not lady like" or "Caroline, it isn't good manners to stab dinner guests with your dessert fork"

Klaus who had just taken a big swig of his once again refilled glass, choked a little, and began to laugh.

" It isn't funny!" Caroline insisted despite the fact that she too was now laughing. Klaus wiped his mouth and tried to regain his composer. He looked up and Caroline smirking, she sighed but still had a smile plastered on her face.

"I'm serious! Carol is a Trident! If she could see me right now I'm practically positive she would keel over of a heart attack right in the middle of this bar."

"Now who exactly are these Lockwood people?" The smile wavered from Caroline's face. She sighed grabbing the glass and taking a large swig before beginning.

"They were my hellish neighbours when I was young. George Lockwood was or I guess is the mayor of the town, and my parents, being the power hunger rats they are, kissed ass like no one else." A large smile spread across his face as he listened to her rant, liking the way she didn't hold back her exact thoughts.

"My mother would be on their front porch every day, lapping up Carols every word. Carol always wanted a daughter you see, but their sons' birth was complicated, and she almost didn't pull through, so they were advised not to try for more children. I became like the daughter she never had, but of course I was nothing like she wanted. I was more like a boy then her own son was. There's a large wooded area behind our houses, and I used to spend all day there, climbing trees and goofing around, I'd come back covered in dirt, and she'd be livid. She ended up convincing my mother that the woods weren't safe for me, but I still snuck out there every day, and every day, Tyler would tattle on me. He would always watch me sneaking out the back, and then run and tell his mother"

"And Tyler is?"

"The Lockwood's son" She shuttered a bit before turning away, not wanting to meet his eyes. He could tell he hit a sore spot, but decided that despite his curiosity, that was a story for another day.

"Okay" He said, smoothing the map on the table below him

"Where too first?"

**I know it's short. I'm sorry **


	10. Chapter 10

Hey! Sorry for not updating for a week or two but I'm going to try and get onto a better schedule! Thanks for hanging in there!

Chapter 10

Klaus had long since sent Caroline up to bed in one of the inns available rooms, instead of retiring to one of the other beds upstairs, he remained at his bar stool, tracing his fingers over the map that meer moments before they had poured over together.

Their plans were still unclear, all they really had was their final destination. But as Klaus thought more and more about dropping Caroline off at these so called "Lockwoods" be began to wonder if he was making the right decision. Could he so willingly ship is girl off to a life of misery? But then again, maybe these people weren't as bad as she had made them out to be. After all she was only a child the last time she had coincided with them. Despite her obvious rebellious streak and quirky personality, he could see that she really was a perfect young lady, when she put her mind to it . One he was sure " Carol Lockwood" would be proud of . He had witnessed the way she carried herself in the dinning room aboard the ship, she knew how to act and when to hold her tongue, she was everything a mother could ask for. But could he condemn her to spend the rest of her life pretending to be something she wasn't? he doubted she would be with the Lockwoods long, he felt confident that after spending a few months without their daughter, her parents would write begging to have her return to England to be with them. he couldn't Fathom how they had sent her away in the first place! He had spent only days in her presence yet he dreaded the day when they would have to part ways. He was sure her parents would soon come to their senses.

But returning to England would mean she would have to board yet another ocean liner. She had expressed her annual nightmares to him, of finding herself trapped in her cabin as it slowly filled with water, or drifting in the ice cold water with no boat returning to save her. Before he had spent her up to bed he had looked her in the eyes and whispered

" Sweet dreams" compelling the nightmares away from her brain before they had a chance to form.

Klaus couldn't understand how this had happened to him. How he had gone for caring about nothing and no one ( his sister a side) to chasing away the nightmares of a young girl who had captured his heart. He wondered what his sister would say to him If she could see him now? He imagined he would laugh, at how big bad Nik had suddenly grown a heart, and he smiled a little at the idea of her happy, poking fun at him the same way they had when they were children. He would travel west once he had figured out what he would do with Caroline, and he and Beck would take some time off from their worries, if only for a little while.

The sun began to rise only a few hours later and as soon as it was visible over the mountain in the distance he could hear the thumping of a pair of boots against the stairs that lead down to the pub for the inns rooms above. Before he knew It Caroline was beside him, ready for the day as if she had been lying awake in bed simply waiting for the sun was rise so she could rise.

Klaus tried to stop himself from grinning like a fool at the sight of her, so eager to start their adventure but failed miserably. A smile spread across her face as well at the sight of Klaus beaming at her. They ate a hurried breakfast before venturing out onto the quiet road outside the pub.

"Which way?" He asked as Caroline bounded out onto the road, twisting around to smile at him. She skipped towards him pulling a hankie from his jacket pocket.

Klaus laughed a little, raising an eyebrow at her.

"And what exactly are you doing?" he inquired as she tied the hankie around her face like a blindhold. She began to spin, one arm extended in front of her finger stretched out as if pointing out a point in the distance. She stopped suddenly, wavering a little as she if was about to fall to the ground. Klaus reached out to steady her, but before his hands reached her waist she had ripped the bling fold from her face smiling triumphantly.

" That way." She stated pointing in the direction she had stopped at. She handed the hankie back to him before taking his hand and pulling him along, through the wheat field straight across from the pub. They waking for a few hours, taking easily about their surroundings, about the birds flying overhead and the shapes of the clouds in the skies above them, somewhere in between the third and fourth hour their conversation slipped away from small talk and towards a deeper meaning. She spoke of her family back in England, of the few fond memories she could re call of her parents of how terribly she missed her cousin Matt, and that he would be the first person she wrote to when she had the chance. He spoke of his family, of his siblings who were scattered across the globe, he gave a vague description of his relationship with his father and how they had spent many years locked in a mutual loathing. He surprised himself by bringing up Henrik, a story he had shared with no one, and admitted to the guilt he felt towards his youngest brother's death. At that point Caroline had squeezed his hand, a hand she hadn't dropped the whole time they had walked together. After a few more hours, Klaus had pulled Caroline onto his back, and speed off making up more ground in a matter of minutes then they had covered all day. Caroline had jumped off his back, smiling widely as they took a spot by a river somewhere in the eastern tip of Indiana. Tomorrow they decided they would cross Kentucky, before finally arriving in Virginia the day after that.

They slept in a farmhouse a few miles down the river that night, the owners of which seemed to have conveniently been out of town for the time being. Caroline had been hesitant at first about breaking and entering the her exhaustion got the best of her, and she happily collapsed onto one of the couch in the living room. After a feast of the bread and cheese they had dug up in the kitchen, Klaus had sent Caroline up to bed, wishing sweet dreams upon her once more, his compulsion chasing away the dark thoughts.

Once her breathing had evened out, and he was sure she was asleep, he slipped out of the house, listening for a sound of a beating heart nearby. Lucky for him, a man came staggering up the road a few minutes later, drunk from a long night at the pub. Klaus called him over, quickly compelling him not to scream. He had no interest in killing the man but after running so far with Caroline on his back that day he needed to refuel. He bet into the man's wrist, treading carful as to not cause him great pain. When he suddenly felt the presence of someone behind him. He turned to see Caroline, standing barefoot on the grass behind him, watching as he fed.

To his surprise she did not seem fearful or repulsed at what she had just witnessed, but rather her eyes were full of curiosity, then her voice broke the silence, it did not shake or seem timid, and despite how quietly she spoke, it was almost conversational, as if they were simply continuing in the same way they had before.

" What are you?"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

He was unable to move, he merely stood there staring at her, still holding the drunken man against the barn wall. He was waiting for her to come to her senses. To cry out and begin to run frantically away from the monster that stood before her. Yet she simply stood there, her eyes boring into him, waiting for the answer to her question. After a few more moments of silence, Caroline inquired again.

"What are you?" her voice wasn't harsh, or accusatory, but rather thick with curiosity.

Any second now, he thought. Any second and she would start running; it was the only logical thing to do wasn't it? Klaus was suddenly acutely aware of the fact that he was holding a nearly unconscious man up against the barn wall.

" Remember nothing of what happened here tonight." He whispered to the man

" You wondered into the woods on your way home from the bar, and got attacked by an animal"

" an animal" the man whispered back, their eyes linked together, and Klaus lessened his grip on the poor fellows shirt.

" Run along" he ordered, pushing the man in the direction of the road.

And Caroline just…stood there. Patiently waiting for an answer to her long awaited question. Then a new look spread across her face. Realization and what might have been fear quickly replaced with a look of shock creased her face. Her eyes wide, she stumbled over in his direction before sliding down the barn wall, and placing her head in her hands.

"I always thought they were just stories. Something to scare me so I wouldn't run off in the woods, but its true isn't it. It's all true." Klaus slide down the wall beside her, care to keep enough distance between them that she wouldn't get spooked and run off.

"Caroline I-"

"You don't need to say anymore; I actually can't believe I didn't figure it out before. I should have guessed."

"Caroline-"

"That night… in the water-"Klaus froze, every muscle in his body tensed. They hadn't spoken about that night since that day in the hospital. He had been hoping that she hadn't been conscious enough to remember much of that night. He had counted on it in fact.

"That's how you knew I was alive, and in the boat.. Oh god" she placed her fingers lightly on her lips.

"You fed me your blood, didn't you?"

"You don't need to worry." Klaus reassured her.

"The blood will have long since passed out of your system." Caroline swallowed the lump in her throat trying to clear her head enough to string together another sentence, that she just couldn't seem to form.

"If it's any consolation, we'll be in Virginia by tomorrow, and you can be rid of me. I'll see to it that no others of my kind cross your path again."

"What?" Her head snapped, and for the first time since her realization she looked him in the eye.

"I know you must be frightened but I promise that-"

"I'm not scared of you." Klaus dropped his eyes, his heart dropping into his stomach.

"If you were going to kill me you would have done it already. Or better yet, you would have left me in the water. I don't think you would have gone through the trouble of saving me, just to make me your next meal. I trust you."

"That probably isn't the wisest decision. "

" What other choice do I have? Maybe… maybe you can help?"

" I'm not sure what you mean."

" You have certain…abilities correct? And I feel awful for stretching your hand any further, especially after all you've done for me already, but the power to free me from my fate, lays within your teeth, and runs through your veins. I could be escape."

"This isn't a life you want, Caroline."

"Well I don't want my own! So where does that leave us?" She was angry now, her fear making cracks in her rough exterior. She let out a breath, and softened. She stood up, brushing the dirt from her night gown and turning to face him.

"Just…think about it." And she walked calmly back to the farm house. Her hair blowing lightly in the warm breeze, and dust popping up in little clouds with every step she took, her bare feet stepping carefully on the rocky ground.

They traveled through the rest of Indiana and through Kentucky in only a few hours, and made it into Virginia before the sun had risen fully in the sky. They exchanged a few words over the breakfast that they had scraped together from whatever they could find in the small kitchen, but didn't speak at all as they traveled through multiple states. When they reached the border, Klaus stole a carriage from a small town about 20 miles from their destination. Knowing pulling up in front of the Lockwood home on foot, after such a long journey would be a red flag.

The silence in the carriage was a million times worth then when they had merrily been running, for now there were no high winds that would have destroyed their words anyway. Now there was only the constant clop of the horse's hoofs, each step bringing them closer and closer to what Caroline had been dreading for months. Klaus broke the silence,

"I'm Sorry, I just…can't." Caroline nodded, looking down at her hands, and then ip at him a sad smile spread across her face, nodding lightly.

"I know." And then she looked away from him, out the window, at the large Plantation houses, and as the Carriage turned down one of the long drives, she looked back down at her hands.

It was a few minutes later that they came to a halt in front of a massive white house, and as Caroline gazed out the window her eyes caught on the large porch swing in which her mother and Mrs. Lockwood would sit for hours on end, just chatting their fool heads off. Caroline, took a deep breath and stepped out of the Carriage, accepting the drivers hand on the way down.

There they were, lined up on the front step, large smiles plastered on their faces, and then one of them stepped forward

" Caroline." She looked up to meet the eyes of the one and only Carol Lockwood,

" Welcome home"


End file.
